Manually adjustable ventilating door or like



Dec. 12, 1933. L. A. MURRAY 7 MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE VENTILATING DOOR OR LIKE Filed June 6,1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. LarKm. A.Murral) Dec. 12, 1933. 1.. A. MURRAY MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE VENTILATING DOOR OR LIKE Filed June 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

L211 BY KmA Mun'm W v ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 12, 1933 MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE VErITILATING DOOR OB LIKE Larkin A. Murray, Des Moines, Iowa Application June 6, 1932. Serial No. 615,613

4 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a door, window, or the like that will permit, by manual adjustment, any desired freedom of air passage therethrough, but will not pass undesirable matter such as rain, snow, or insects, nor permit visability through the same.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ventilating door or like that is not objectionably heavy and one that has the general appearance of 1 an ordinary door or like.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a ventilating door, window, or like that has all its mechanism and moving parts inside its main frame or shell.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a door or window that permits, when desired, the circulation of air therethrough as freely in one direction as in the other and has the same general appearance and emciency on both sides.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a manually adjustable and closable ventilating door or like that is refined in appearance,

economical in manufacture, and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, an pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of my complete device in an open condition and ready for'use.

Fig. 2 is an inside view of a portion ofthe device and more fully illustrates its construction.

Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssectional view of my device in a completely closed condition.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view of my device in a completely open condition.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of the shield bars frame, shield bars, and screen.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view of a modified form of construction of my device.

Fig. '1 is an inside view of a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 6 and more fully illustrates the arrangement of the various parts. Fig. 8 is a side sectional view of a portion of the modified construction in a closed condition, showing the movable vanes so constructed as to be flush with the outside surface of the door.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of still another modified form of construction in a closed condition.

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 9 in an open condition.

The objection to ventilating doors and windows now on the market is that they are either nonadjustable, allow insects to pass through them, or permit possible visability through them at certain angles. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see no three doors in one doorway, i. e., one solid door, one ventilating door, and one screen door. I have overcome such objections by providing all the desirable features in one door, as will hereinafter be appreciated.

Referring to the. drawings, I have used the numerals 10 and 11 to designate the two shell members that when placed as shown in Fig. 3, form the complete outer shell housing of my door or window. These two shells may be of any suitable material such as metal. In each shell 10 and 11 is cut and bent a plurality of spaced apart horizontal vanes 12. These vanes are bent inwardly and. upwardly and create the slot openings 13 in theshell 10, and the slot openings 14 in the shell 11. As the slots 13 and 14 are diametrically opposits from each other respectively, the upper edges of the vanes 12 in the shell 10 will terminate adjacent the upper edges of the vanes 12 in the shell 11, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. I have 30 used the numeral 15 to designate the fiat strip portions of the shells that exist between the horizontal vanes. The numeral 16 designates a frame member having horizontal spaced apart shield bars 17 that embrace the vanes of one of the shell members, as shown in Fig. 2. These shield bars and front of the frame reside between the inner edges of the vanes of the two shell members 10 and 11, as shown inFig. 3. The shield bars are also so placed between each pair of slot openings l3 and 14 as to prevent visibility through the door at any time. The openings between the shield bars are, therefore, in staggered relation to the slot openings 13 and 14, as shown in Fig. 4.

An arrow in Fig. 4 shows the sinuous path, caused by the shield bars 1'1, that the air must take to pass through the door or like.

The numeral 18 designates a mesh wire secured on the frame and shield bars to close the slot openings between the bars. This screen wire by being inside the door is inconspicuous and although permitting the free flow of air through the door, prevents insects or like from passing through the door.

The numeral 19 generally designates a closing grid vertically slidably mounted on the inner side of each of the shells 10 and 11. The grids each have horizontal spaced apart slats 20 which correspond in number to the number of slot openings in the shell to which the grid is secured. 1 10 width of the slots in the shell members, the downward sliding movement of a grid completely closes the slot openings in that shell member, as shown in Fig. 3. If both grids are moved downwardly the slot openings in both shell members 10 and 11 will be closed. In order that both grids will be moved simultaneously, they should be secured together. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 I show a detachable method of securing the two grids together, which permits the rapid assembly or disassembly of the two shell members 10 and 11. This is accomplished by having a tongue 21 on one of the grids enter between two spaced apart flanges 22 on the other grid when the door is assembled. The downward movement of the grids is limited by the slats 20 engaging the tops of the vanes in close proximity to the slot openings in the shell member. To open the slots 13 and 14 it is merely necessary to raise the grids until the slats are above the slots, as shown in Fig. 4. When in an extreme raised position the slats will engage the under sides of the vanes in close proximity to and back of the flat portions 15 of the shell members. The capacity of the slot openings may be adjustably obtained by positioning the grids at various points in their sliding movement.

The manual sliding of the grids is accomplished by a handle lever 23 secured to onev of the grids and extending through a slot 24 in one of the shell members.- If this handlelever 23 is positioned near the bottom of the door it maybe actuated by the foot. An enlarged head 25 on the outer end of the handle will give the foot a better grip. The handle23 may also serve as a door stop. Other means may be used to facilitate the raising, adjusting, or lowering of the closing grids. If notches 26 are placed in one side of the slot 24 capable of being engaged by the handle member, the handle member will be held against accidental displacement by vibrations, Jars, or gravity.

I will now explain my modified construction shown in'Fig. 6. The numerals 10 and 11 designate the two shell members that make up the door or like. These two shell members do not have vanes as the shell members in Fig. 1, but they do have the spaced apart horizontal slot openings 13 and 14 and the flat strip portions 15 between the slot openings.

The numeral 27 designates a vane hinged at its bottom marginal edge to the inside of the shell members below-each of the slot openings 13 and 14, as shown in Fig. 6. The numeral 28 designates a. vertical bar slidably mounted on the inside of each of the shell members and at one side of the vanes hinged to that particular shell member. These two bar members, have slots 29 adjacent each of the vanes at the side of them respectively. These slots 29 extend. inwardly and upwardly, as shown in Fig. 6. 'The numeral .30 designates a pin secured to each of the vanes and extending through a slot 29 in one 'of the" bars.

By this arrangement, when the bars .28 are' moved upwardly, the pins will slide toward the bottom of the slots 29, thereby moving the topsof the vanes outwardly to close the slot openings 13 and 14. By moving the bars downwardly, the

vanes will be moved inwardly and awayfrom the slot openings 13 and 14. The control of the air through the door will be had by positioning the hinged vanes relative to the slot openings. In

order that the bars will-be moved'simultaneously with each other they should be secured together. I accomplish this by having one of the bars fitted at top and bottom with'a U-member 31 which As the width of the slats 20 is greater than the detachably embraces the ends of the other bar. as shown in Fig. 7. A handle lever 23 or like should be secured to one of the bars and extend through a slot in one of the shell members.

The width of the hinged vanes should be such that with the portions 15, visibility can not be had through the door or like. The numeral 32 designates a frame with screen mesh 33. This frame and screen embraces, with a bar 28, one set of vanes and slot openings, thereby preventing insects or like from passing through the door. As the screen is positioned in the shell members between each set of the hinged vanes, it is unnoticeable. In Fig. 8 I show a vane so bent that when it is in a closed position its outer surface will flush with the outer surface of the door shell. The frame 32 may be detachable by being fitted between tracks 34 secured to the inner side of one of the shells.

Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show still another desirable construction. In this construction a plurality of vanes 35 extend from each side of the door. upwardly and inwardly. These vanes are arranged in pairs of equal elevation and the two vanes that make up a pair terminate a slight distance at their upper edges from each other. The slot openings between the vanes is designated by the numeral 36.

Slidably mounted in the center of the door is a frame of spaced apart closing shields 37. The space between the shields is closed by screen mesh 38. By this arrangement, the frame may be slid so that the shields completely close the slot openings, as shown in Fig. 9, or moved so that the screen sections are interimposed in the slot openings, as shown in Fig. 10.

From the above, it will be seen that I have provided a very desirable door, window, or like.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved manually adjustable ventilating door or like without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention. and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a flat member having a plurality of horizontal slot openings. a second fiat member spaced apart from said flrst flat member having an equal number of capable of being moved to restrict or close the slotted openings adjacent to it, a means for detachably securing said two grids together, and

-a handle member having one end secured to one of said grids and its other end portion extending outside of the space between said two flat members. I 2. In a device of the class described, a flat member having-a plurality of horizontal slot openings,

"a second flat member spaced apart from said first flat member-having an equal number of horizontal slot openings as that of said first-mentioned flat member; said slot openings in said first-mentioned flat member parallel with the slots in said second-mentioned flat member, an inwardly and upwardly extending vane from near the lower marginal edge of each of said slot openings. a slatted grid slidably mounted on the inner side of each of said flat members capable of being moved to restrict or close the slotted openings adjacent to it, a means for detachably securing said two grids together, a handle member having one end secured to one of said grids and its other end portion extending outside of the space between said two flat members, and means for preventing the accidental displacement of said handle member.

3. In a device of the class described, a flat member having a plurality of horizontal slot openings, a second flat member spaced apart from said first-mentioned fiat member having an equal number of horizontal slot openings as that of said first-mentioned flat member, an inwardly and upwardly extending vane from near the lower marginal edge of each of said slot openings, a slatted grid slidably mounted on the inner side of each of said flat members capable of being moved to restrict or close the slotted openings adjacent to it, a means for securing said two a second flat member spaced apart from said first-mentioned fiat member having an equal number of horizontal slot openings as that of said first-mentioned flat member; said slot openings in said first and second-mentioned flat members parallel with each other, an inwardly and upwardly extending vane from near the lower marginal edge of each of said slot openings, a stationary shield bar between each pair of slot openings in said two fiat members respectively, a slatted grid slidably mounted on the inner side of each of said flat members capable of being moved to restrict or close the slotted openings adjacent to it, a means for securing said two grids together, and a manually operated means for reciprocating said grids simultaneously at times.

LARKIN A. MURRAY. 

